But I thought I would ask a cat related question. Tiny Cat is not letting me sleep as much as I need to sleep. I am so tired and frustrated I've mulled over if I need to find her another home.

I am so frustrated. Ideas?

I wish I had a dime for every time I was woken up by Olympic Sprints through the bedroom, and a nickel for every time Pinky woke me up by poking me in the boobs. She's very deliberate when she wants me up. She walks on me very slowly and pointedly until I either get the message or blow in her face, which she hates.

When I was little, we adopted a cat from the humane society. She was so glad to be out of there and regarded me as her saviour, she came and slept with me, purring so loudly I couldn't sleep. I was young and stupid, so the obvious solution seemed to lock her upstairs (my room was in the basement). I fear that played a large part in the traumatized, skittish, antisocial behaviour she developed. But could also be that she was a barn cat and didn't get enough human attention as a kitten. My mom getting her declawed surely didn't help matters. Poor thing.

I don't think there's much you can do about her playing, but for her deliberately waking you up, the best thing is to never ever ever give in. If you'd prefer to sleep until 7, then stay in bed until 7 even if she won't let you sleep. She may or may not get the message eventually, but you'd be surprised at how much rest you can get lying in bed awake, just not being "up."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dagferi

FeLV is transmitted cat to cat. Along with FIV FIP..

Can't tell you how many outdoor cats my practice sees every week that get themselves seriously hurt outdoors. Mainly scrapping with other cats.

I've tried to reason with my cats on the merits of staying indoors. Don't need to tell you how that worked out. I settle for annual check-ups and all the vaccines my vet recommends.

My philosophy is that in the wild, animals get into fights sometimes, and sometimes they die. I look at how much enjoyment my cats get out of going outside and weigh it against the risk of them contracting a disease or getting injured. Not only their enjoyment outside, but their obvious misery staring out the window when locked inside, and their vocal demands to be allowed out. Their opinion on the matter is crystal clear.

Both of my cats have spent time in the pet ER over injuries due to cat fights. I've learned the hard way that Meika and Ketamine are not good buddies. Morphine also makes her freak the fuck out. Pinky's most recent encounter resulted in house arrest for the remainder of the summer, as it was the second time in 3 months and her previous injury had just barely healed. This time, at least, she was able to heal herself without antibiotics. I just had to shave the area, rinse it out the once, and let her tongue do the rest. Now that it's winter, house arrest is over since she's never gone more than 10 minutes before her toes get cold and she's done with that nonsense.

For a while, I kept a window open so they could come and go as they pleased. That ended quickly when I woke up to a big black tomcat greeting me in the kitchen like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Well good morning, Monkey. Fine lady cats you have there. What's for breakfast?"

__________________“As I am sure any cat owner will be able to tell you,
someone else putting you in a box is entirely different
from getting into a box yourself.”—bisexualbaker